Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
He was still hard.
Graham had taken Raveena from behind, holding her down while thrusting deep until the slap of his balls on her clit made her come a third time.
Before she'd come to, he'd rolled her to her side, shoving her knees into her chest and tugging handfuls of her hair until her head bent back and her hips curved helplessly into his as he dove deeper into her core with his cock.
She regained consciousness as her muscles squeezed his in another orgasm.
Then he flattened her on her back, holding her hands over her head, tossing her legs over his shoulders and piling into her still slick cunt until she begged for mercy.
He showed her none. Because he knew the mercy she asked for was not for him to stop. She needed the claiming as much as he needed to stake ownership over every part of her in every manner that she could be taken.
Hours later, he was still hard. Exhausted but raring for another go. That's how it always was with her. Graham would never get enough of this woman. And she would never deny him.
Even when she'd married the king, she hadn't considered barring Graham from her bed. The problem lay with him because he couldn't stomach sharing her with another.
"I'm going to have to kill the princeling."
Raveena lifted a brow at him even as her eyes remained closed. "After our wedding night, when I seal ownership of the crown, you can do what you like with Charming."
"You're not marrying that twat."
"Fine." She lifted one bare shoulder in a shrug. "Then you'll kill Snow for me."
"There's been enough killing, Ray."
"There'll be more deaths if I lose my crown."
Graham hunched down in the bed until he was nose to nose with her. Languidly, she opened her eyes. The blue ice made him burn.
"I won't let anyone take the crown or the castle from you. Every man from Fenvalen and Everfrost will fall in line behind me after I've brought them home from the war. You have your tenterhooks in me. Where you go, I'll follow. So you'll have an army behind you."
She gazed at him, her expression unreadable. "I've always been confused about that expression. Is it tender hooks? Or tenterhooks?"
"Does it matter? If anyone comes for your crown, they have to go through me first. And no one is getting past me to get to you. It would be war."
Raveena huffed and rolled her eyes. "I didn't orchestrate a peace to put you back into war, Graham."
"I won that war."
"Of course you did." She waved dismissively. "My plan now is far more elegant and less bloody. Kill either Snow or Charming, and my path is clear. Or kill them both. Then there's no need for armies to fight."
"Do you think I can't best Charming's pretty boy army?"
"It's not Charming I'm worried about. These are queens that we'd be fighting, not mindless trolls."
The fire in the corner had burned down to a whisper, casting long shadows along the rough-hewn stone walls.
Graham lay on his back, one arm flung over his eyes, his chest rising and falling in the slow, heavy rhythm of a man undone.
Beside him, Raveena sprawled in the curve of his body, all soft limbs and sharp silence.
Her skin was still damp with sweat, her pale hair tangled across his chest like a banner.
He wanted to roll over on his stomach and hitch her onto his back.
But he didn't feel the need. He knew she wasn't going anywhere.
She was his—physically, at least. If there was a way he could reach into her heart and pull that organ to him, he would.
But as always, it was her head that he was fighting with.
More aptly, the phantom crown on her head that she would give up for no one.
They’d moved like a storm and fire when their bodies were joined, all fury and possession. Now the quiet settled in. And with it, the ache behind Graham’s eyes sharpened. His focus shifted to the real problem between them.
Charming.
He gritted his teeth, jaw twitching. The prince’s smug wink. His cheap jabs. That ridiculous victory.
“Are you still brooding over the match?”
“You let him touch you.” Why hadn't he at least broken one of the boy's fingers when he'd had the chance?
“It was once,” she said. “And it was not memorable.”
"I hate that his bony ass stank up your sheets."
"I didn't take him to my bed. I’ve never had anyone in my bed but you.”
Graham wanted to believe her. Gods, he almost did. But a small, cruel part of him whispered liar, and he didn’t silence it. He just didn’t say it aloud.
Raveena had had her husband for three years.
Likely other lovers. She'd had them before Graham.
It wasn't frowned upon for future queens to kick up their skirts for a bit of fun.
Not before their unions, not during their reigns.
Graham was certain that when he and Raveena were together, there had been no one else. That same certainty escaped him now.
Graham turned away from her. He stared at the ceiling, watching the shadows shift. He was tired. Not in body. His body had found its relief, its center. But his mind was fraying.
He was sick of secrets. Sick of plots and masks. Sick of silent wars waged in ballrooms with fake smiles.
He was a soldier. And he wanted clarity.
“I’m not going to kill her.”
Raveena blinked her eyes open. Her gaze was slow to focus.
“Snow. I’m not going to spill her blood. I know you want her gone. I know she’s a threat. But murder…” Graham exhaled. “I’ll take her. Kidnap her. Smuggle her into one of the border realms. Somewhere in some faraway woods. She likes nature. She might even be happier.”
Raveena said nothing. She propped herself up on one elbow, eyes dark.
“If she’s gone, the crown stays on your head. There’s no need for you to marry that simpering fool. No need to risk the people turning on you if she claims her birthright.”
Raveena’s lips parted—whether to argue, to thank him, or to scheme, Graham couldn’t tell. Before she could speak, a knock shattered the hush.
A low, irritated growl rumbled from Graham’s throat. “I'm busy,” he barked.
Corwin’s voice answered, muffled through the wood. “I’m not here for you, Wolf. I’m here for the queen. She’s needed.”
Raveena sat up, the sheets sliding from her bare shoulders. “What is it?”
“We’ve received word from the castle.”
A pause.
“Snow White went missing.”